Alright, we all know the drill. All original characters, plot, and settings belong to Eiichiro Oda and I did not receive any revenue or payment for writing this story. As a side note: dream sequences will be italicized and underlined for your convenience. Enjoy chapter 2!

Magina was back on Song Island. How? Hadn't she escaped? Luffy and Zoro- everyone came after her and defeated Sudo. She should be…free? Wait. She wasn't really at Song Island. Where was she? Magina slowly wandered dark hallways; confused, lost and alone.

"You don't deserve Zoro-sama," a voice suddenly whispered maliciously behind her.

Magina spun around only to be confronted by a shadowy figure. The features were obscured by a thick mist. Magina squinted at the shadow. It was about her height and Magina noticed that the long tresses were similar to her own style. Was this shadow copying her? Why?

"He can't be happy with you. Just give him up. Now that he's with me, I can make him happier than you ever could."

Panic nearly choked her. She had Zoro! How? When? It wasn't possible! Magina shut out everything and concentrated on his song. Nothing…why couldn't she hear him? She attempted to demand that Zoro be released but her throat tightened. She had to find him before it was too late! Harsh laughter followed Magina as she searched blindly for him.

"ZORO!"

Magina sat up straight in the bed, cold sweat making her shiver. Where…where was she?

"I'm right here. No need to shout so loud," the familiar growl easing her frantic mind almost instantly.

"How do you feel?" Chopper asked, quickly coming to her side.

"I have a headache and I feel dizzy," she answered quickly.

Zoro and Chopper looked surprised at her immediate answer. Magina was startled momentarily too. She tended to gloss over her symptoms, keeping her weaknesses to herself. She frowned at the realization that she voluntarily gave an honest answer at Chopper's first prompting.

"Anything else?" Chopper prodded, obviously hoping to get more information.

Magina didn't know how to answer that. Her puzzled frown made Zoro growl deep in his throat. She sighed at his impatience. It was hard to come up with a suitable explanation.

"I didn't leave Merry last night, did I?"

"No," Zoro's dark grumble answered her question.

"For a moment, I thought that I was…pulled to Song Island. I've never felt that before," Magina continued. What did it mean?

Chopper frowned. "Disorientation is highly unusual. You're not experiencing any right now, are you?"

"Well…not exactly…" she trailed off, glancing at Zoro from the corner of her eye.

The nightmare was still fresh in Magina's mind. It wasn't like other times when Zoro wandered off by himself and got lost. If he didn't find his way back to her, she could always find him. Magina couldn't remember a moment she came as close to real abject terror as when Zoro's song disappeared from her head. Magina shivered at the thought.

"You're not making much sense, siren," Zoro yawned.

It was only a dream; it couldn't actually happen. She grinned suddenly.

"I'm just hungry. Everything will be fine once I eat."

"Hmm, I know. Sanji should cook you some meat! You'll feel all better then," Luffy grinned as he hung upside down from one of the ceiling beams.

"Luffy! Didn't I tell you to wait until I was finished?" Chopper scolded, glaring at his captain.

"I couldn't wait. I wanted to make sure Magina was going to get meat to make her feel better. Sanji, make us some meat!" Luffy demanded, as he landed lightly on his feet.

"Magina-san, did you want anything besides meat for breakfast?" Sanji asked her.

Luffy immediately began to argue, "Meat always makes me feel better; it should make Magina feel better too!"

Sanji kicked Luffy in the head and shouted "Not everyone is an idiot like you! Maybe Magina-san wants to eat something different!"

Magina giggled, her dream and the horror finally melting away in the companionship and ridiculousness that were her nakama. Breakfast was as lively as ever though the craziness eventually ended in a conversation about finding a shipwright. Magina was glad. Merry wasn't exactly brand new anymore. She needed to be fixed up badly.

It was too bad that she could only hear people's songs. Merry was nakama too but Magina had no way of knowing how the ship was really doing. It probably wasn't good though. Sometimes late at night, when everyone was asleep and the waves were still, Magina thought she could hear a quiet lament. A song of pure regret so resounding that her heart broke to hear it. She hoped that it wasn't Merry. Magina couldn't stand the thought of the sturdy nakama suffering so much.

Magina quietly excused herself after feasting. Sneaking out of the galley wasn't hard, especially when Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Nami argued. Robin looked up when Magina made her way to the door but Robin only smiled at her.

Magina was glad that she didn't draw any other attention to herself. She loved her nakama dearly but every once in a while she enjoyed a little solitude too. Maybe she would do some fishing. She missed it this morning after all.

The quiet gave Magina time to reflect on the anxiety that gripped her. Every instinct screamed at her that she must protect Zoro. He didn't need protection. He was ridiculously strong. Such a feeling was silly.

Magina flicked the hook into the water. She didn't think she would catch anything. By mid-morning, the fish were usually sleeping. There might be a random tuna or pike that forgot to feed earlier but it was doubtful. Just jerk the pole back and forth, try and forget the uneasiness, I can still hear everyone, Magina reassured herself. No one is going to disappear…least of all the nearly silent swordsman linked with me.

"What's wrong now? You don't skip the after breakfast arguing unless something is bothering you."

Magina nearly jumped out of her skin. At that moment, the fishing rod dipped towards the sea and she almost lost the pole. Strong, warm fingers wrapped around both the pole and her trembling hands. Maybe fishing wasn't such a brilliant idea after all. The dizziness returned and her knees felt weak. Magina shivered, the chill overwhelming her.

"That's it. I'm taking you back to Chopper," Zoro growled, lifting the fish easily out of the sea.

"No! Zoro, it's okay. I don't think Chopper could do anything this time. I'm not sick and I didn't over do it last night. This is different."

"Alright, what do you suggest then, siren?" Zoro crossed his arms in obvious disagreement.

Magina smiled weakly. The idea that popped in her head would hopefully solve everything; her need to know that Zoro was close by, the off-kilter sensation she still had and the dark smudges underneath Zoro's eyes.

"I say, let's grab a couple of blankets and make an inconspicuous retreat to the crow's nest for a well-deserved nap."

"Sometimes I like the way you think."

"Then, why don't I take care of this fish, you find the blankets and I'll meet you up there in about 5 minutes?" Magina suggested coyly.

"Don't overdo it," Zoro's growl of concern made her smile wider.

"I won't," Magina grinned happily.

…

Zoro had to admit that Magina's idea was pretty ingenious. Since he inhabited the crow's nest most of the day, it wasn't unusual for him to be up there now. They wouldn't receive a rude awakening from any Love Cooks, or idiot captains wanting to play tag, or navigators trying to increase his debt by playing cards or any other myriad of crazy possibilities that were common place on this ship. Magina was already asleep, Zoro was just waiting for his mind to stop thinking so much.

"Ah, so this is where you and Miss Siren snuck off to. Luffy wanted to play Daruma and he was looking for some additional players," Robin's disembodied voice said.

Zoro growled. The mouth on the mast smiled and one eye winked knowingly.

"Magina's asleep already and I doubt that she'll let me go any time soon," Zoro replied, flicking his blanket off and pointing to the arms locked tightly around his waist.

Robin's quiet laughter irritated him. Zoro flipped the blanket back when Magina started to shiver again.

"Something seems to be aggravating Miss Siren today. She's acting very different."

Zoro knew that she wanted to know what was wrong. Robin wasn't the only one. As far as he knew, Magina wasn't the type to have nightmares. She wasn't the clingy type either. Yet, something had disturbed her enough to make her stick to him like a barnacle on a ship.

"I don't know what's wrong yet but you're right about her acting strangely. I'm sure she'll tell me eventually."

Zoro yawned. He was exhausted. Curling up with Magina to nap sounded like a good plan. Maybe Robin could distract Luffy…

"Oi! Zoro! Magina! Where are you?" Luffy shouted.

He sighed in exasperation. It was too late. Robin chuckled.

"I'll explain that you're sleeping like the dead and Miss Siren needs to rest more. That should be sufficient."

"Thanks, Robin."

The mouth and the eyes disappeared with a flurry of flower petals. Zoro sighed with great exaggeration. It was safe again, for now. Zoro shifted slightly and the arms around his waist tightened. Seriously, what was bothering her? This morning, when she first woke up, Magina sat straight up in the bed and she called for him. She looked scared. Zoro wondered what her nightmare was about. She must still be unconsciously worrying about what she dreamt about and he was the only person who she allowed to see how affected she really was.

"Don't worry, Magina. I'll protect you. I'm not going anywhere," Zoro murmured sleepily, lazily stroking her hair.

Her death grip on his waist slackened. Some of the warmth returned to her fingers and she stopped shivering. Zoro smiled smugly before drifting off. He doubted Sanji could've done better. Gentle snores began to emanate from the crow's nest.

…

Magina cracked her eyes opened. She hadn't been truly asleep when Zoro climbed up. She still clung to Zoro. A part of her was horrified that she was acting so brazenly. A second portion of her desperately needed this physical contact. Another emotion was crowding in though: the feeling of satisfaction, almost to the point of gloating. Magina glanced up to take a look at the sleeping swordsman. She smiled grimly as she remembered what Zoro said to comfort her.

"I'm going to protect you too, Zoro. No matter what it takes, I promise."

Exhausted, emotionally and physically, Magina settled into Zoro's lax arms and drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep.

There it is! Chapter 2! I'd like to thank those who reviewed and who added this story to their favorites. I have about half of Chapter 3 written right now and I'm hoping to have it completely written and edited by next week. I'm not going to make any promises though lol. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Daruma- a game very similar to red light/green light. You can watch Episode 216 of One Piece if you need a refresher.